Making Time for Family: the Invention of Family Time(S) and the Reinvention of Family History

Abstract

Families are not only subject to time constraints but also produce their own sense of time. The time families live by is not the same as they live with. Historians, who have been primarily concerned with the quantitative dimension, have neglected the phenomenon that is commonly referred to as "quality time. " This article explores the origins of modem family times, paying particular attention to the rituals involved in daily, weekly, and annual family occasions. It suggests that a behavioral approach to family history is incapable of capturing the symbolic processes that have become central to modern family life, and it calls for a cultural history of family that would take into account myth, ritual, and symbol.

Determinants of Divorce in Nineteenth-Century Flanders

“…More men and women, from all social groups, were marrying younger and younger, and increasingly at about the same age. 34 From a different point of view, Gillis 35 points to the same conclusion: the decades near 1850 were a symbolic turning point. It was the time when highly-valued quality time became increasingly equated with intimate family time.…”

“…Sunday was not a day of rest for women, but a day for "labours of love." 36 Increasingly strict requirements were imposed on this invisible labor, and by 1900, housework had become a full-time job. It was a job involving increasingly more daily tasks taking longer to perform, precisely at a time when the public discussion was of reducing the hours worked outside the home (by men)!…”

Families, meals and synchronicity: eating together in British dual earner families

“…More generally people are said to experience a speeding up of time (Rosa, 2008) resulting in a constant state of busyness and time pressure (Warren, 2003, p. 734). However, historians have noted that whilst a sense of hurriedness pervades contemporary life, there has been no objective reduction in the time available to families (Gillis, 1996). Jacobs and Gerson (2001) in the USA suggest that the length of the average working week has remained stable between 1960 and 2000, and in Europe weekly hours of work appear to have declined: the average working time in the EC12 in 1991 was 40.5 hours a week; in 2010 it was 37.5 hours a week in the EU27 and 36.4 hours a week in the 12 'old' Member States (Eurofound, 2012, p. 33).…”

Rivalry, solidarity, and longevity among siblings

“…Mortality decline strengthened family ties, as both parents and children died less often prematurely, lengthening the time that they spent together. Within the private sphere of the household, children had more time to play together, thanks in part to industrialization and the decline of child labor, which strengthened the bonds between brothers and sisters (Sanders 2002); and family members began to participate more in joint leisure activities during weekends, especially on Sundays (Gillis 1996).…”